Panorama: I can’t Breathe

[SpaceRaiders]

Are police routinely called out to people in mental distress? Is that normal procedure. FFS I’m angry already.

Absolutely appalled at how they treated an innocent man in medical distress. How is this even allowed to happen?

It depends on many things. If the person is under a section or under a DOLLS the police have a duty. Or perhaps they are a risk... so many different situations.

I agree, its shocking.

The whole programme was shocking tbh. I can’t get over it, that poor mans family. I can’t see how the police can ever be suitable to be dealing with vulnerable unstable members of society.

I’m not watching it but I do know that the police get called out to all sorts of people who just aren’t coping with life

I am sadly not remotely surprised by what has been uncovered. They killed a man and then covered it up.

But that's police culture, it's what they do - protect their own, even when they're killers.

But how does it escalate from being called out to a mentally unstable person in a crisis, to them being restrained to death? I can’t understand how that happens, is there not a procedure that police are expected to follow. From the clips shown, guy is on the floor. Not threatening. Not abusive. Nothing. Just utterly horrific.

It's pretty usual for police to attend and be first call if someone is in distress as they may be a risk to themselves or others.
You hope that there is also street triage present, ie; a mental health professional and immediate attempts to establish if mental health is a factor in presentation. Ideally, the call room make contact with appropriate mental health service and the person is also assessed by paramedics and if medically fit, taken to a place of safety for further assessment.
Obviously, in this case, there was no consideration of this gentleman's wellbeing it is very very sad.

Kill someone, and then use your position of power to cover it up and to smear that person's name and memory.

They knew that being police officers meant they could lie and be believed, and that it also meant they could call honest people liars without repercussion.

Abhorrent. Although our society is also at fault for allowing the police to abuse their power, automatically treating any police officer as more credible than everyone else, and failing to hold them to account.

There’s no way that gentle handhold hurt 😔 and as soon as she said it did he let go. I missed the second mans story as DS crying